1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.

A. "Enterprise" means a firm doing business in this State that is engaged or proposes to be engaged in this State in value-added agricultural, natural resource-based or other manufacturing, research and development, or in the provision of knowledge-based services.

B. "Fund" means the Maine Technology Investment Capacity Fund.

C. "Intellectual property" means any legal protectable materials, including any new information, technologies, inventions, designs, works of authorship, any strain, variety or culture of an organism, or any portion, modification, translation or extension of these items, any processes, mineral discoveries and other legally protectable materials, including know-how and trade secrets, that are generated as a direct and indirect result of investments made by the foundation through contracts, grants or any other legal agreement.

D. "Protection of intellectual property rights" means protecting the foundation's rights to intellectual property through intellectual property protection mechanisms, including, but not limited to, patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and licensing rights.

E. "Technology commercialization" means the process of bringing an investment-grade technology out of an enterprise or a private or public laboratory for first-run application in the marketplace.

F. "Technology development" means strategically focused research aimed at developing investment-grade technologies essential to market competitiveness. "Technology development" does not refer to basic research, but rather to products, devices, techniques or processes that have advanced beyond the theoretical stage and are in a prototype or industry practice stage.